- Seasoned snake catcher Nick Evans witnessed his first pair of black mambas fighting this mating season.
- The two males had a go at each other for the “mating rights” of a female lurking in concrete blocks.
- Evans only succeeded in catching the female, which measured about 2m, a day later.
Black mamba mating season is in full swing and Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans spotted his first pair of males of the season, fighting over a female, on Monday.
They were duelling it out in a tree in Queensburgh, Durban.
Evans told News24 he had been called to the same property before to catch a mamba, but was unsuccessful.
“Two years ago, I went to this place to try catch a mamba and I went multiple times but we could never get it because it was underneath these concrete blocks.
“On Monday, the guy phoned me to say there is a mamba there again and when I got there, I saw two in the tree and I could see them fighting, I was so excited,” he said.
Fighting
Evans said seeing the young black mambas fighting was his highlight of the mating season. The males fight in a show of dominance to win over a female.
“It‘s such an amazing sight. This is my first sighting this season. For me it‘s like a highlight of the year for snakes.
“To me it‘s just amazing to have two of the most well-known and most feared snakes in the world and there they are fighting in front of you. It’s quite a sight.”
The snake rescuer said the female mamba was lurking in the concrete blocks during the fight.
Evans was unsuccessful in catching the two black mambas after they fell from the tree during the fight because they had escaped into the concrete blocks.
“I did catch the female mamba the next day, but the two males had vanished.”
